Vijayawada: Opposition wants roadmap on prohibition

Vijayawada: The TDP legislators led by party national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Thursday asserted that their party would continue to obstruct the Assembly and Legislative Council till the government provided its road map for implementation of 'prohibition promise'. They debunked the government argument to claim that Eluru hospital had recorded 15 illicit liquor consumption deaths, but the government was suppressing the news.

The TDP lawmakers said their agitation would stop only if Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy tendered explanation on his "false statement on illicit liquor deaths. The CM deliberately misled both the legislature and people by portraying liquor fatalities as natural deaths," they said. They wondered how the CM could say that there was no illicit liquor anywhere in the state when the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) filed 1,129 cases in just five days.

The SEB was functioning directly under the CM, who was, however making false statements. There were official reports of about 18,000 illicit liquor dens in the state and thousands of non-duty paid (NDP) liquor cases were being filed every day.

Addressing a press conference after the adjournment of Council, Nara Lokesh asserted that the Chief Minister had a moral binding to explain why he misled the people of Andhra Pradesh. The Council Chairman had rejected the TDP privilege notice without giving valid reasons and instead of clarifying on illicit liquor deaths, the ruling YSRCP members moved a privilege motion against the TDP.

Lokesh recalled how Jagan Mohan Reddy projected phased prohibition as one of the important (jewels) among his 'Navaratnalu' promises. The CM had systematically made a mockery of his own prohibition promise by refusing to debate the issue for the past four days. Moreover, he was aiming to collect over Rs. 24,000 crore revenue from liquor sales this year, he added.

Earlier, the TDP MLAs and MLCs led by Lokesh took out a rally outside the Assembly, holding placards and raising slogans against the liquor betrayals.